First came Kanalkampf
First came Kanalkampf, the Fight for the Channel, soon it will be Adlerangriff, Operation Eagle, the plan to destroy 11 Group Following up on Fuhrer Directive 16, Hitler approved Fuhrer Directive 17 on August 1st, 1940, 80 years ago. This directive authorized...
The Die is Cast
Führer Directive 16, July 16th, 1940Hitler launches Unternehmen SeelöweOperation Sea LionOn July 16th, 1940, 80 years ago, given the obdurate Mr. Churchill’s unwillingness to surrender without a fight, Adolf Hitler signed Führer Directive # 16, commanding preparations...
The Calculus of Invasion
Now that France was lost, and only Britain still survived, each side worked feverishly to develop its plans for the invasion and defense of Britain. It would be one of the greatest match ups in military history, and perhaps the greatest air battle of all time....
Cataclysm
The triumphant Germans captured Paris on June 13th and accepted the formal surrender of France on June 25th. In the meantime, Mussolini’s Italy entered the war on June 10th, started bombing the island of Malta on June 11th, and invaded southern France on June 21st....
Catastrophe
The German advance through France, Holland, and Belgium, proved to be unstoppable. The last part of Holland to be overrun surrendered on May 18th, just eight days after the German invasion, Fall Gelb, or Case Yellow, began. The British gave up attempting to save...
The Third Reich Advances
In May, 1940, the Germans advanced rapidly through Holland, Belgium, and France, using a combination of swift Panzer attacks on the ground and deadly Stuka bombing raids from the air. The combined armed forces of Holland, France, and Belgium, supported by the...
